“The Telecommunications Act of 1996...enabled the handful of
corporations dominating the airwaves to expand their power further. Mergers
enabled tighter control of information. The Latin American writer Eduardo
Galeano commented..."Never have so many been held incommunicado by so
few." Howard Zinn
When I was younger we didn’t have social media or
alternative news sources, rather we had network TV news. Channels like CNN and
Fox and the local stations (channel 6 ABC Action News). They would deliver
breaking news and more. We didn’t question it; we took it as truth. Looking
back at the news from when I was teenager compared to now, it’s mind-boggling
how they managed to get away with so much for so long.
Fun fact: 6 companies own at least 90% of all the
news outlets where the world receives American news. The six are Time Warner
Inc, General Electric Co., News Corp., The Walt Disney Co. ,
and Viacom Inc. (1) Back in 1983, according to Benjamin Bagdikian, there were
over 50 corporations that controlled information. (2) Shouldn’t that have
worried anybody? How did this happen? We can thank President Bill Clinton and
the Telecom Act of 1996. The
Telecom Act in theory was supposed to foster competition among media companies;
instead it allowed a massive amount of consolidation. September 17, 2014 http://bit.ly/1EN6SUR
The Act's
stated objective was to open up markets to competition by removing regulatory
barriers to entry. However to understand what actually happened on Feb 8, 1996
when the Telecom Act of was signed into
law by President Clinton we will look at the Oct 23, 1995 solar eclipse which
preceded the event. The eclipse was conjunct the TNP Poseidon and sesqui the
TNP Hades.
POSEIDON:
spread of ideas; advertising; interest in business practices/ethics; reactions
to the media; windows, mirrors, refraction of light.
HADES:
Disgust/distaste; debilitation or deterioration.
Hades-Poseidon : deterioration or degeneration of
the media or of business ethics and
morals.
Progressing
the chart to Feb 8, 1996 brings the eclipse and Poseidon to a conjunction with
the Ascendant triggering an event which eventually led to the mainstream media
losing all credibility.
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